Monday, May 31, 2010

Long Weekend coming to an end - and so is the Giveaway!

This has been a fun long weekend - started out Thursday night - Laura came to visit and we had dinner and went to see Sex and the City2 with a a bunch of squealing women.  Entertaining, but not great cinema, and I think we can say the franchise has officially jumped the shark.

Friday morning - we went to the vet and confirmed what I had been suspecting but not talking about - Scout is not pregnant.  Not sure why - probably bad timing, trying to get her bred around all the hustle and bustle of going to the specialty.  One thing we know is that it was not Lego's fault - he bred a bitch the week before and she is pregnant.  Disappointed, but we will try again in the fall, which truthfully should be a much better time for me, work-wise.

We buried our blues by shopping until we dropped.  So worn out, Laura just decided to stay another night.  Saturday the painters showed up and did a great job on painting the rest of the house and taking care of a few little carpentry needs around here.  They finished up this morning and I am very pleased with the results.

It's a rainy afternoon, and the all day "Hoarders"  marathon on A&E has inspired me to get back on the clearing out the basement project.

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend, and don't forget to entry the CSN Stores Giveaway before midnight tonight!!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Here it is - THE GIVEAWAY!

It seems like most of my shopping dollars are spent online these days. I always shop first online – and only as a last resort will I venture out to the big retail stores, or, heaven forbid, the dreaded mall.

I recently found a new favorite place to shop online, called CSN Stores – which is actually kind of like a virtual mega-mall – over 200 stores. Two things I like about these stores – first, most of the items I have looked at have free shipping. Now you all know I am a beancounter, and I know that there is really no such thing as “free shipping” – someone has to be paid to bring you what you order. What it really means is that shipping is already priced in – so there are no surprises when you go to check out. Secondly, they take PayPal, which is my preferred way to pay.

My first purchase from a CSN store were shoes from Shoesgotsole.com – in my hard to find ski-length size. My last purchase was this cedar storage bench for my deck. One thing I love about it is the story behind the company that made it - Cedar Creek was developed to provide work and career opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
I have been doing some remodeling and rearranging at my house, and I have decided to move my sewing room to the basement, and returning that room to a guest room. (This will keep me from having to arm wrestle guests when I try to get them to sleep in the beds and let me sleep on the couch – you and you know who I am talking about!) Anyhow – I decided to put a twin sleeper sofa in this smallish room, and lo and behold, CSNSofas.com has a huge sleeper sofa collection. Here’s one called "Ludlow" and is the one I have just about decided on, in leaf green:
OK – enough about my shopping habits – you came here for the GIVEAWAY! The nice folks at CSN said that I can give away a $40 gift card, which can be used in any of their 200+stores! The contest is open to those in US and Canada. Many items have free shipping, but be aware that some items may have shipping charges or in the case of Canadian readers, international fees, for certain products.

All of the items that I posted in Wednesday’s teaser are available in one of the CSN stores for less than $40. Look at some of the other cool stuff I found, for my dog friends in particular:

The $40 gift certificate would make a big dent on the purchase of the essential Picnic Time chair at tailgatepartyingsupply.com!


And look at this very cool pet gate (called a Gate N Crate) at allpetfurniture.com that converts a bunch of different ways (sorry the pic is so fuzzy - check it out here):


Ok - Here are the particulars: You can get up to five chances to win in a random drawing for the $40 gift card – choose any or all of the following options:

1. Just post a comment to this post with your email address (just so I can email you when you win - if you know I have your addy, you don't have to post it) saying that you would like to win.

2. Check out a sleeper sofa and post a comment letting me know which one you like best.

3. Blog a link to this post on your own blog, and leave me a comment here that you did that.

4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet a link to this post (and leave a comment here saying that did that)

5. Facebook a link to this post (and leave a comment here saying that you did it). Please friend me if we have not friended already!

Entries close at midnight EDT on Memorial Day, May 31, and I will post the winner ASAP. Good luck!!

Another teaser!

Look at just a few of the things you could choose from in this weekend's giveaway:
Details will be posted Thursday!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Stay tuned - Fun Giveaway this weekend!

I have just been given the opportunity to give away something very cool on this very blog! Check back for details!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Happy Birthday, Spencer-man!

Happy 7th Birthday to the dog of my heart! 

Baby Spencer came home to me at 8 weeks old and my life was never to be the same. I knew nothing of obedience trials or that seemingly sane people actually drove hours every week to go out in the country and to let their dogs play with sheep. I had seen agility on ESPN but it never entered my mind that I would ever give it a try myself.

I had no idea that there was a whole world of people out there doing all this craziness or that so many of those people would come to be my best friends.



This sweet, scary smart, obstinate, full of himself creature makes me laugh everyday.  Happy Birthday, butternut!

And Happy Birthday to brother Wilson and the rest of Will and Josie's kids.


p.s.  Watch for Spencer to make his dog show debut!  Now that he is 7, I can enter his little ball-less self in Veteran's Sweeps!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

The 'maters are in the ground. Finally.

A little late this year, but I had to wait for the guys who cleaned up the downed tree to finish their job. And, with our late and cool spring, we are just now having plus-50 degree nights.

Two plants each of San Marzanos, Sugar Snacks, and Romas, and one each Brandywine and Celebrity.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Enjoying Lemonade

You know that old saying about what you do when life hands you lemons?  I felt like a big old lemon landed on my head when were at the Specialty.  The Megan was just about to start and my phone rings - and I recognize the number as one of my neighbors.  She was calling to tell me that a huge tree in my backyard had fallen on my house.  The tree had so many leaves and branches that they could not tell what the damage was underneath.

Once everything was cleared away, things were not nearly as bad as they could have been.  The rail on the deck had to be replaced, along with the rickety gate (literally held together with bungees), and the leaky gutter that already needed repair was pulled away from the house.  A few shingles needed to be replaced as well on the corner of the house.

So I ended up having the insurance company pay to fix things that already needed fixing.  The new gate is so much better than the original one ever was.   Two sides of the house were completely repainted because of relatively minor scratches. The painting contractor told me that he had enough paint left over to completely paint the rest of the house.  He made me a great deal on the labor, so I am getting the whole house painted for a fraction of what it would have cost in a normal situation.  But here's the great part - he also threw into the bid some minor carpentry work that I needed and had not been able to get anyone else to take care of for me. 

So, I raise my glass of crystal light raspberry lemonade to you!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Another Trio of Terror Doodad

Just bought it on eBay:

(Grace, Moira and Scout as 6 month old pups)

How cool is this?

This was generated using the Toon-Paint app on my phone (thanks for the tip, Heidi!)


This is the original:

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Yaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnn. . .

I spent $200 to sign me and Spencer up for a working slot in an obedience workshop given by a nationally well known trainer. Auditors only paid $40 to sit in and listen.

We started at 9:00 this morning, and as of 4:15 this afternoon, 9 of the 20 working teams just got to do a few broad jump exercises with very little if any personalized attention. Otherwise, all we have done is to sit and listen to her ramble about various things.

My iPhone is about to go dead because I have spent so much time surfing. Tomorrow we will just be more productive at home, I think.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Look who came to visit us!

The Biscuit Man!

And his entourage - Sarah, Laura, Aunt Breezy and puppy cousins Olive and Avery.  They spent the night on their way to Perry shows today.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Congratulations to our Fellow Bloggers!

Congrats to Taryn and Wiccan for their winning photographs at the National Specialty!!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Baby Steps

While we were in Gettysburg, Heidi helped Cheryl set up her own blog, Presentation by Cheryl. (Cheryl was Scout's handler, and she has been showing Rush for Heidi, and showed several of Shirley H's dogs at the Specialty.)

Heidi set everything up so that Cheryl could post from the road on her Blackberry, without a lot of bells and whistles on her blog yet.  We want her to get some positive feedback and get into the blogging habit, so when you get a chance, go visit her blog and leave her a nice comment.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

A few days late

I was cleaning up the kitchen tonight, looked up and realized that I had not flipped the calendar from April to May.

Even worse, I forgot who was Mr and Ms May!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Show Clothes?

As I have mentioned previously, I have been cleaning out my Mom's house.  As we were going through her clothes, I noticed that she had a lot of "show clothes" - you know, machine washable, pockets, comfy yet dressy enough clothes.  The daughter of a friend of hers came over one day and took them all to her house, but it turned out she she could not wear most of them, so today I picked them up and brought them to my house. 

I thought I would put an offer out to anyone who might be interested in them - I would love to see them get some good use. Are they the most fashionable clothes in the world - no, but you probably would not be cited by the Dog Show Fashion Police if you wore them, either.  And, the price is right.

I don't want anything for them, if you think anything might work for you or someone you know, email me at liveswithcorgi ``@`` gmail and we'll figure out how to get them to you.

Most are sizes 14 and 16.  Mom's about 5'8", so most thing are going to on the longer side and some are tall sizes.  I know some folks actually buy things and hem them up - no one in my family has ever had to do that.  Here is a list of the items - I will get some pictures up on my picasa site later.  All are machine washable unless otherwise noted.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Good energy!

Spencer and Scout saw their chiropractor/holistic vet today for a check up.

Dr B said that if I had not told her about Scout's recent breeding, that she would be concerned about all the energy she could feel in her abdomen. We're taking this as a good sign!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

What I found when I got home

Not great, but not as bad as it could be.

The deck rail was torn off, but the deck floor survived. The gate to
the back yard also gone, but I have rigged an ex-pen to secure the
dogs from escaping the back yard. Gutters are also torn from the
corner of the house.

The good news? The pod is unharmed and the structure of the house is
fine. I was already planning to replace the gutters and the back
gate, which was rickety anyway. Now my good friends at Farm Bureau
will do it for me!

On the road!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Can we go home now?

Final

Final

Bob: Harry P
Bow: Wd
Bos: Ribbon

Sent from my iPhone

Final cut of bitches

Final cut of bitches

Suncliffe Sanibel
Xtacee Moonlight Serenade
Claymore's Madame Butterfly
Riverside Telltail Goldigger
Aubrey's Tails of Mystery
Cheysuli's Liquid Silver
Cardschs Elisabethan Blue
Copperleaf Rose of Sharon
Legacy Legends Winning Colors


Sent from my iPhone

First Cut of Bitches

First Cut of Bitches

Suncliffe Sanibel
Heart of Gold Icing
Claymore's Madame Butterfly

Xtacee Moonlight Serenade
Claymore's Dark Blue Rose
Legacy's Legend's Winning Colors
Davenitch Lydia Loves Purple

Copperleaf Rose of Sharon
Riverside Telltail Golddigger
Cardiridge Jean Louise Finch
Legacy Legend's Charismatic

Sent from my iPhone

First Cut of Bitches

First Cut of Bitches

Suncliffe Sanibel
Heart of Gold Icing
Claymore's Madame Butterfly

Xtacee Moonlight Serenade
Claymore's Dark Blue Rose
Legacy's Legend's Winning Colors
Davenitch Lydia Loves Purple

Go eat a sandwich - we are breaking for lunch!

Sent from my iPhone

Final cut on Dogs

Final cut on Dogs:

Rhys Sunday with George
Kingsburys I'm Harry P
Rubad-Harrow Brython
Heart of Gold Power Play
Raconteur Perchance to Dream
Claymore's Darkening
Xtacee Dancing in the Moonlight
Mariel's Harvest Moon
Twinroc Santa Paws
Legacy Legends Run for the Triple Crown


Sent from my iPhone

Best of Breed Competition

Made the cut:

Heart of Gold Power Play
Turn Keys Little Big Man
Raconteur Perchance to Dream
Claymore's Darkening
Trudytales About Last Night

Xtacee Dancing in the Moonlight
Kingsburys Dark Magic O' Sisterwood
Lost River Splash n Dash
Cymbrogi Immune to Gravity

Mariel's Harvest Moon
Turn Keys Bug-z Segal
Legacy Legend's Run for the Triple Crown

Pooh's Strider of Dunedain
Twinroc Santa Paws
Kollages Hot Buttered Soul
Cymbrogis Equilibrium 

Sent from my iPhone

I have already cried this morning

Why do Junior Handlers get to me like this?